The Chilliwack Tulip Festival is Vancouver’s largest and most famous flower festival. It takes place on a farm in Chilliwack in the Fraser Valley in April.
Note: As of 2021, it is the Lower Mainland’s only major tulip festival. That’s because the Abbotsford Tulip Festival has moved to the Okanagan and will no longer be happening at its past location.
First day of the season for the Chilliwack attraction is Sunday, April 11th. Because of COVID-19, organizers are encouraging people just from within the Fraser Valley to attend.
Chilliwack Tulip Festival
Celebrating its 15th year, and formerly called Tulips of the Valley, the Chilliwack Tulip Festival is the Lower Mainland’s original tulip festival and Western Canada’s largest. With close to 20 acres of beautiful fields, the attraction is definitely worth checking out.
On a sunny day, the fields are amazing and feature some 30 different varieties of tulips and over 6.5 million flowers in all!
New as of a couple of years ago are fields of hyacinths and peony-like double daffodils which add extra colour. The additional flowers also allow the festival to open a couple of weeks earlier than in previous years.
In 2019 the event featured around 20 acres of flowers overall including two acres of the hyacinths and three acres of the daffodils (with various parts of the fields blooming at different times). In 2020 the festival didn’t happen because of COVID-19. Calling itself just “Chilliwack Tulips” in 2021, it runs this year in a modified format beginning on April 11th.
The Chilliwack Tulip Festival is put on by the people behind the same community’s tremendously popular Chilliwack Sunflower Festival which takes place at the end of the summer. Both festivals take place at the same farm, at 41310 Yale Road, and both are highly recommended.
If you like flowers and tulips, you should go! It’s impressive!
Tulip Festival Location
The Chilliwack Tulip Festival takes place in Chilliwack on a real working farm at 41310 Yale Road close to Exit #109 just off the Trans-Canada Highway.
Note: The farm is located in Chilliwack, not Abbotsford.
Driving from the Vancouver direction, on your way to the Chilliwack venue you’ll likely see signs to the Abbotsford Tulip Festival along the way. The festival in Abbotsford is a nice event too – just smaller and a bit more expensive. The Chilliwack Tulip Festival is just another 10 minutes or so further down the road.
Festival Dates & Hours
The Chilliwack Tulip Festival was cancelled for the 2020 season due to concerns about the ongoing spread of COVID-19. It opens on April 11th in 2021, but only for residents of the Fraser Valley region because of the pandemic.
Hours of operation in 2021 are daily from 11:00 am until 6:30 pm (with guests having to be out by 7:30).
In 2018 the Chilliwack Tulip Festival was open for the season starting on Sunday, April 1st, which was a couple of weeks earlier than the previous year. In 2019 the first day of the season was Wednesday, April 10th. First day of the season in 2021 is April 11th.
A couple of years ago the fields were open to the public from April 18th until May 7th. 2018’s season went until May 6th. 2019’s final day was May 1st. When the event will finish in 2021 depends on the weather and this year’s growing season. We’re guessing that it’ll run at least until the first weekend in May, but possibly longer.
In years when it doesn’t get cancelled, the attraction is usually open from around 10:00 am until 7:00 pm on weekdays and from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm on weekends and holidays. The fields are also open to the public on weekends from just before sunrise for an additional fee.